As the calendar turns to June, the NHL playoffs are just above the halfway point, the NHL combine has come and gone, CFL camps are starting up and the oddest, yet most hilarious, new fitness craze is upon us.

If you are a sports fan read on, but if you are a creative, witty and tech savvy you should definitely read the final thought.

Finnish goalie Antti Raanta was this year's Fabian Brunnstrom. Many were gushing over Raanta on twitter and impatiently waiting his decision. He ended the drama by signing with the Blackhawks today. The Edmonton Oilers did make him an offer, but they have yet to hear from his agent. Raanta did struggle at the World Championships when he had to deal with a lot of traffic in front of the net, but most scouts seem to rate him as a solid prospect. Will he be as a good as Viktor Fasth was in Anaheim, or will he fizzle out like some other highly-touted European free agents? We will see.

The Oilers don't have much goaltending depth at this point. Last week, Craig MacTavish basically said the jury is still out on whether Devan Dubnyk can be a consistent #1, (I feel he will) or if he is a tweener 1/2. They don't have a backup, and they don't have a solid #3 either. Yann Danis is a veteran AHL goalie, but he is not someone the organization feels can become a #2. Raanta would have had a great opportunity in Edmonton, but now the Oilers will look at the UFA route and don't be surprised if they look at another European goalie as well.

If Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau or Alex Ovechkin had one goal in 14 playoff games, they'd be getting ripped, however, very few want to admit that Jonathan Toews is struggling offensively. He is 11th on the Hawks in goals, with one, and he hasn't been consistently dangerous. It doesn't mean he isn't a great player, but he is struggling to produce points at the most important time of the year. His overall game is fine, but when a #1 centre isn't producing usually they hear about it.

Toews' struggles further illustrate how deep the Blackhawks are. How many other teams could be two wins away from the Stanley Cup finals with only one goal from their #1 centre?

Remember when some scoffed at the Blackhawks decision to trade for Michal Handzus? Turns out Stan Bowman and Joel Quenneville knew what they were getting. Handzus is on a tremendous hot streak. He has points in five straight games, all wins, and he looks re-born. Some times you can't explain why a player gets hot or cold, but the Hawks look like geniuses for grabbing Handzus at the deadline.

If, still a big if, Pittsburgh doesn't get by Boston it would be fair to say that the Handzus trade was the most important of any deadline deal.

Steve Tambellini also gave up a 4th rounder, but he got Jerrid Smithson in return. Not all trades are created equal.

The Oilers did, however, win the Garrett Stafford for Dane Byers trade. Stafford has played all 15 playoff games for OKC, and he's been solid on the blueline.

Four of the Hawks regular 12 forwards during this year's playoffs need new contracts next year. Handzus, Brian Bickell and Viktor Stalberg are UFAs, while Marcus Kruger is an RFA. The Hawks don't have enough cap to keep all of them, and some feel Bickell might get as much as $3 million/year on the open market. That would be a huge leap of faith for any GM, considering Bickell has only scored 10 goals once in his career. I still believe the Hawks will find a way to keep Bickell, but they will let Handzus and Stalberg walk.

I don't think Stalberg would be a good fit for the Oilers. He's a big body, but his lack of consistent effort would concern me. The Oilers need consistent, reliable veterans, not guys who are prone to take nights off.

The Oilers will hire an associate head coach. He will be an experienced NHL coach with a strong technical background. The big challenge for Ralph Krueger will be trying to find the right mixture of player's coach and disciplinarian. Krueger will need to demand more of his players next year. The big question is can he do it successfully

There is nothing better in sports than game seven. The Heat/Pacers series has been great, and I'm hoping tonight is another close battle. I'm pulling for the Pacers, but I'll pick the Heat to win. Lebron James will score 35 tonight if they win.

Edmonton Eskimos GM Ed Hervey vowed his O-line would get bigger and nastier and he stayed true to his word. He cut Kyle Koch, Joel Bell and Dale Stevenson on Saturday and added three hulking imports to fill the gaps. Here is my run down on the positions that are up for grabs heading into camp.

*** Spoiler Alert...*** Game of Thrones is easily my favourite show on TV right now. I wasn't a fan of "King" Rob, so I wasn't sad to see him killed off last night, but I was surprised. If you haven't watched G.O.T I recommend you do. Great show.

A FUN CONTEST...

We've all seen many ridiculous fitness fads come and go. Most of them don't last very long, and I'm sure Prancercise won't either, however, very few of them will have a video as AWESOME as this.

The best part is when you go to her website and see the definition of Prancercise.

"A springy, rhythmic way of moving forward,similar to a horse’s gait and ideally induced by elation."

"Induced by elation," is one of the best lines I've read in a long time. Classic.

I discovered "Prancercise" during my radio show this past Friday, and we had so much fun with it that we decided to come up with a video contest.

We are looking for the best mock/funny video of Prancercise. The best video will win a total of $1,000 in gift certificates from The Pint, Rona, United Cycle and vivo ristorante.

I'd like to thank Joanna Rhorback from coming up with such an elating fitness workout. Pure Gold.

You have a week to come up with your best mock video. Keep in mind there are 4 types of Prancercise in this video, so you'll need to show you are well-versed in all of them.

You can submit your entries to gregor@theteam1260.com.The deadline to enter is next Monday, June 10th at 2 p.m.

One of Canada's most versatile sports personalities. Jason hosts The Jason Gregor Show, weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m., on TSN 1260, and he writes a column every Monday in the Edmonton Journal. You can follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JasonGregor

My guess is Toews is significantly injured. He takes abnormally short shifts and is definitely not skating and carrying the play like usual. He looks to be about an average to above average player out there, whereas playoff Toews is usually a whole different animal.

I would really enjoy unknowingly visiting a place in which "prancercising" had caught on. Imagine a steady stream of them coming down the walking trails. I feel like it would be Calgary.

This is the way it is,Gretzky was a natural Intuit,it made him the greatest player to lace up skates,he taught Messier how to be an Intuit on the ice,Mark was NOT a naturally born Intuit,he was handpicked and indoctrinated.Both of these men could activate our system here in Edmonton.Because all we are missing is Intuitive inouts and thats what they both have to offer,in different formats.

Together they would be a deadly combo,Wayne on the bench strategising ways to dissect opponents and Mark teaching the men Intuitive Dynamic concepts hands on and communicating his indoctrinated perspective to them the exact same way Wayne taught it to him.

Understand that the only reason Wayne a natural born Intuit didnt win a Cup as a coach was he didnt have a middle-man,a communication conduit,that could get his message across optimally,Messier is this exact template,so is the NewAge Hockey System.

As far as the Oilers are concerned either one of them could initiate and engage our current systemic influence,Wayne would need Mark or the NHS to be a conduit to the players beanbags.

Mark could initiate the system on his own and be a direct conduit to the players but he cannot manifest Intuitive Dynamic Analysis and managment naturally like Wayne can do against opposition benches,so he would still need the NHS but for a different reason.Together they compliment each other perfectly and as a team they eliminate the need for the NHS completely.

And finally Mark could help Ralph the same ways he would help Wayne,by being a direct Intuitive hands-on conduit to the players.Then all Mark would need is a steady source of Intuitive inputs to pass along to the players using his tailormade teahing ability.Wayne or the NHS would need to feed he and Ralph fresh Intuitive data however.

Maybe Mac-T could hire The Moose and re-define the word BOLD for all of us,eh?

i find it cool that NHL teams search oilers fan boards to find tips on how to play the game at the pro level.

it seems obvious that an anonymous person on a interweb message board would be the key to a team having success in another market.

i have also developed a sys that i, from my couch, have decided to implement. it IS the newageactingsys. by me developing this new sys, actors around the globe are now reaping the benefits. countless awards, millions of dollars, and NAILING super hot women, ALL because they have harnessed the power of me talking out of my ass.

they never seem to thank me directly in their speeches, but i know they scoured the internets looking for ways to improve, and they found me on a message board and poof, success.

i would start a blog for those of you who care to read my random musings on a day to day basis, but i would rather flood the comment sections of every article on the site instead.

Wait....NHS, your personally taking credit for a NHL team winning the cup last year? I've never read one of your entire posts before, I usually just check if its been cut off due to its crazy rambling length, but your particular brand of crazy is really starting to scare us.

Wait....NHS, your personally taking credit for a NHL team winning the cup last year? I've never read one of your entire posts before, I usually just check if its been cut off due to its crazy rambling length, but your particular brand of crazy is really starting to scare us.

JG, what do ya think of the Oilers going for Bernier of LA or Khudobin. With Quick entrenched as #1, Bernier has to be ready for a trade to be #1/1A somewhere else. Khudobin is looking more like being let go from the Bruins as the rumours are hyping Svedberg to be brought uo there.

also, JG, what of if the Canucks buyout Luongo? Would he consider the Oil under a new better contract for 3 yrs...or is his heart still for Florida?

The Kings are headed for a difficult summer this year. If they get ousted by the Hawks, maybe there's a chance they'd move Dustin Brown this summer. He's a UFA after next season, and a bargain at 3.175 for next season. Lombardi will have some difficult decisions to make.

JG, what do ya think of the Oilers going for Bernier of LA or Khudobin. With Quick entrenched as #1, Bernier has to be ready for a trade to be #1/1A somewhere else. Khudobin is looking more like being let go from the Bruins as the rumours are hyping Svedberg to be brought uo there.

also, JG, what of if the Canucks buyout Luongo? Would he consider the Oil under a new better contract for 3 yrs...or is his heart still for Florida?

I believe Khudobin will be on their radar. Edmonton might be the best bet for him, since they have little NHL goaltending depth.

Bernier you would have to trade for, so I think that makes it more difficult than just signing a UFA...

I'm not sure he'd consider Edmonton, but mainly because I don't think he gets bought out.

I was expecting that scene to be the season ender. My favourite moment is still the dragon toasting the slave masters a few weeks ago.

I'm looking forward to seeing how these two young QB's do. Too many sacks and too much pressure last year. Some of it was the O-line but I think a lot had to fall on the Offensive coordinator and their failure to get a good mix of drop back and play action.

"Steve Tambellini also gave up a 4th rounder, but he got Jerrid Smithson in return. Not all trades are created equal."

Yup that pretty much sums up Tambo as a GM.

Good to hear about the Eskimo O-line getting bigger. They have been soft for at least two seasons IMO. It's tough to complete a pass if the quarterback is being rushed & has almost no time to set his feet.

Although Stalberg may not be a perfect fit for The Oilers, he would still be an upgrade over several players.

I have not seen G.O.T. so I can't comment but the show does look interesting. At least as long as you like sex & violence.

I was expecting that scene to be the season ender. My favourite moment is still the dragon toasting the slave masters a few weeks ago.

I'm looking forward to seeing how these two young QB's do. Too many sacks and too much pressure last year. Some of it was the O-line but I think a lot had to fall on the Offensive coordinator and their failure to get a good mix of drop back and play action.

yeah I think there is a lot of blame to spread around when it comes to offensive problems on The Eskimos last year.

Until the oilers allow either Ralph Krueger to bring in his own assistant coaches or Craig Mactavish to bring in his own head coach, which brings his own personnel that he wants, this team will never improve because of coaching.

I understand you can't keep replacing the coaches but it is the same management who keeps hiring the wrong guys. Until management is changed ( Kevin Lowe) you can't expect different results.

•The Oilers will hire an associate head coach. He will be an experienced NHL coach with a strong technical background. The big challenge for Ralph Krueger will be trying to find the right mixture of player's coach and disciplinarian.

I wonder what experienced NHL coach worth his salt is going to come to Edmonton to take his place behind Krueger to be the classic second fiddle? I wouldn't go anywhere near this organization and it's lengthy record of bad karma. It has bad vibes written all over it. You'd be asking how this furthers your career. If you have 'experienced' as part of your resume why come here to deal with entitled insiders/hangers-on like Buchberger and Smith? Why bring your trade secrets here to support Krueger the golden boy? I would want to run my own coaching show and make or break as head coach.

Only someone from the Oilers organization would think that the Oil are anyone's first choice of employers.

The Oil need to go outside the organization and Lowe's Christmas card list and get the best coach available with a solid NHL resume and allow him to hire his own assistants.

On the draft the Oil need to quit trying to out-think everybody as they have done in the past. Moving down in a talent rich environment is not smart. He who gets the best player wins. They should just take the best player available. They are suffering the after affects of a terminal case of the cutes and I don't think it has worked.

There are some good players available at #7. There's very good reasons the Oil are 23 yrs removed from an SC win.

Norm -it's not all gloom and doom here . Only 7 years from Stanley Cup finals . Many would love to coach here , and many I might add we did not take .
We have a vibrant group of blue chippers that need a better core around them . That's coming sooner than later we hope with MacT. .
How many other clubs can claim the success we have had since joining the league - not many if any . What have the others won in our new division ? L.A .-1 , Cal - .1 , Anaheim-1 , Colorado -2? , Phoenix -0 , San Jose -0 , Vancouver -0 , Edmonton -5 .

Norm -it's not all gloom and doom here . Only 7 years from Stanley Cup finals . Many would love to coach here , and many I might add we did not take .
We have a vibrant group of blue chippers that need a better core around them . That's coming sooner than later we hope with MacT. .
How many other clubs can claim the success we have had since joining the league - not many if any . What have the others won in our new division ? L.A .-1 , Cal - .1 , Anaheim-1 , Colorado -2? , Phoenix -0 , San Jose -0 , Vancouver -0 , Edmonton -5 .

I have never been into drinking the Oiler Kool-Aid. I want this organization to move forward and succeed too. But the only part of succeed Lowe understands (He of the 6 rings) is the first syllable. That is 'succ---' That, he seems all to familiar with.

Let's just wait and see who they hire and the results. Right now I'm pinning my hopes on MacTavish being able to find his ass with both hands and getting the necessary moves done with as little drama and fallout as possible.

I could swear that at approximately 40 seconds that Hottie was giving Bettman an ass-slap,and then at about 56 secons it looks like she gives him a double-up,for the life of me I cant get the picture of Bettman in a huge diaper getting slapped on the hiney by that monster and looking back over his shoulder at everyone with a smile on his face that has been "induced by elation".Ha ha ha ha.

There were also a few moments where if you added some disco music and Laddy you would have had a winner as well!!

That was to much,I need to go read the good book to wash my mind out.Ha ha ha.

This is the way it is,Gretzky was a natural Intuit,it made him the greatest player to lace up skates,he taught Messier how to be an Intuit on the ice,Mark was NOT a naturally born Intuit,he was handpicked and indoctrinated.Both of these men could activate our system here in Edmonton.Because all we are missing is Intuitive inouts and thats what they both have to offer,in different formats.

Together they would be a deadly combo,Wayne on the bench strategising ways to dissect opponents and Mark teaching the men Intuitive Dynamic concepts hands on and communicating his indoctrinated perspective to them the exact same way Wayne taught it to him.

Understand that the only reason Wayne a natural born Intuit didnt win a Cup as a coach was he didnt have a middle-man,a communication conduit,that could get his message across optimally,Messier is this exact template,so is the NewAge Hockey System.

As far as the Oilers are concerned either one of them could initiate and engage our current systemic influence,Wayne would need Mark or the NHS to be a conduit to the players beanbags.

Mark could initiate the system on his own and be a direct conduit to the players but he cannot manifest Intuitive Dynamic Analysis and managment naturally like Wayne can do against opposition benches,so he would still need the NHS but for a different reason.Together they compliment each other perfectly and as a team they eliminate the need for the NHS completely.

And finally Mark could help Ralph the same ways he would help Wayne,by being a direct Intuitive hands-on conduit to the players.Then all Mark would need is a steady source of Intuitive inputs to pass along to the players using his tailormade teahing ability.Wayne or the NHS would need to feed he and Ralph fresh Intuitive data however.

Maybe Mac-T could hire The Moose and re-define the word BOLD for all of us,eh?

For the hell of it,the NHS sends its regards to Chigago and these tips to LA,stop them from taking their blueline shots from the middle,they are layering the support and looking for two levels of attack from that shot,you cant handle the two tier dynamic attack.They are catching you in the middle,they are trying to get a deflection from the mid-zone and at the same time they have net pressure hoping to get a second shot at the deflection on the way in,double the dynamic impact from ther usual amount of systemic work.They are taking those blueline catalysing shots so fast you will need to screw them in the n-zone on the way in methinks.I mean come on they are spreading three men across the blueline,that opens them up to some major retaliation.There are many more tactical reasons for the blueline shot from the middle,lets just say stop it or die.

Second,look up the word anerobic and apply it to your approach across the board on the ice,The Hawks are consistantly dominating in the body positioning aspect,they are managing their spheres of influence very well,they are ALL doing it with and without the puck and they are working their execution around this ,they are keeping their butts facing their goaltender and are keeping the inside positioning all the time with STICKS and bodies in consistant positions,they are even slowing the game down to faccillitate this tactic.Speed it up and get anerobic on their asses,use the give and go to do this,you need to undulate the playaction to shake them loose and out of position,dont give them the lines on the inside positioning.Rosterwide make an effort to turn them outside no matter where you are on the ice.pay attention to how many times their players use an arm to turn you at the right moments,actually turn your body when they contact you.They are turning you to the outside,instead of hitting you head on for a tactical reason.

DO NOT get caught reaching with your sticks as that is how they are measuring you so they can manage their spheres of influence accurately,stay coiled when you extend your stick to challenge them,keep some extension room hidden from them,change your speed and footwork to adjust to this,it will throw a major wrench into what they are doing if you can catch them underestimating your stick and body reach as they close distance.

Go back to the shots you used last year and the same simple small plays,focus on the give and goes,the small reverse Stoll does from the corner of the blueline in the n-zone will work well,they are pinching that spot well so just position three feet further back when you reverse instead of right on the blueline,just be aware they will be trying to keep inside positioning and if you dont break that they will intercept your cross ice pass in the n-zone,retake the positioning edge across the board.Remember to optimise on their goalies body mechanics like you were doing last year,shoot from the other side,mix it up a little,use wristers instead of the slapper to change the pace of presentation who cares,but those same simple plays will work on the Hawks as long as you remove that shot from the middle,speed up and slow down the gamespeed to ruin their teams consistant inside positioning ,and the rest will happen on its own.

You are welcome,LA,Chicagos owner doesnt know it was the NHSs transitional innovations his team identified and utilised so he failed to thank me,I listened to him say he sourced transitional tactics from the Oilers on the radio,no thank you to the NHS?bad decision you should have done your homework and credited the right source,this means in response LA gets the help I gave their opponents last year,for the same reason of not validating the NHS ironiclly enough.

Watch the next game,LA will be making exactly these adjustments ,or they will lose, its that simple,i am not reading the future just the dynamic template I saw after watching seven or eight minutes of the last game,thats all it takes.

Its not the goaltender for LA that is a problem,its that the hawks are basing their offensive thrusts off of goaltending body mechanics their systemic influences are generating consistantly,JUST like LA did on their Cup run last year.Same principal and they are even using the same small plays LA used last year,just catalysing the slightly differently,Chicago has listened better,like LA listened better last year.

If Sutter had know what was happening last year he could easily shut down the Hawks this year,but the fact is that last year Sutter let his players catalyse things and ran with it,this means he didnt really know what the hell they were doing,just that it worked.Well the bad news is that the Hawks acessesed and followed more NHS data than the Kings did last year,and they took it seriously from a coaching standpoint,they ENDORSED the NHS,but again failed to credit the NewAge Hockey System and me,so now they will be eliminated because I will send in the data teams need to shut them down.It is really that easy.

I sent a anonymous e-mail to the feedback area of LAs website this morning,outlining some of this data,we will see if it gets through the regular hurdles,you can never be sure when you e-mail a generic address if whoever gets it has the wherewithall from their desk to forward an odd e-mail to their coaches,its a crapshoot but under trying circumastances it is surprising how many times this data gets through to the right places.

I hope Mac-T is paying attention because he is sitting on the exact system the Hawks and to a lesser degree the Kings are trying to utilise,the tactics that are effective against these teams now will have the same effect on us next year.I hope seeing this vulnerability will allow him to consider a new systemic influence that is different than what is now becoming an NHL standard.By seeing how easy it is to stop the Hawks hopefully Mac-T can see the system itself is a very open book nowadays.

The Kings won the cup last year using NHS influences initiated by players not coaches it was like limping across the finish line,the Hawks watched investigated and learned and now have adjusted from an organisational perspective to the same NewAge Hockey System data and influences the Kings learned from,except the Hawks are not limping anywhere,they sometimes drag one wing to slow things down but they are pushing hard and steady towards the finish line and their coaches are well indoctrinated into the NHS philosophys,or as well as they can be from what has been offered so far.The NHS influence has been assimilated by the Hawks on a coaching AND player level,this is a major advantage for them against LA this year.LA is recognising what is happening to them but cannot stop it,they are seeing how opponents felt playing against them last year,ha ha ha.One would think this would clue them in,eh?

Geez if LA was smart or had integrity they might try to find the Golden Goose from which they purloined last years Golden Egg and stroke it a little,and hope for another gift,ha ha haha.

For the hell of it,the NHS sends its regards to Chigago and these tips to LA,stop them from taking their blueline shots from the middle,they are layering the support and looking for two levels of attack from that shot,you cant handle the two tier dynamic attack.They are catching you in the middle,they are trying to get a deflection from the mid-zone and at the same time they have net pressure hoping to get a second shot at the deflection on the way in,double the dynamic impact from ther usual amount of systemic work.They are taking those blueline catalysing shots so fast you will need to screw them in the n-zone on the way in methinks.I mean come on they are spreading three men across the blueline,that opens them up to some major retaliation.There are many more tactical reasons for the blueline shot from the middle,lets just say stop it or die.

Second,look up the word anerobic and apply it to your approach across the board on the ice,The Hawks are consistantly dominating in the body positioning aspect,they are managing their spheres of influence very well,they are ALL doing it with and without the puck and they are working their execution around this ,they are keeping their butts facing their goaltender and are keeping the inside positioning all the time with STICKS and bodies in consistant positions,they are even slowing the game down to faccillitate this tactic.Speed it up and get anerobic on their asses,use the give and go to do this,you need to undulate the playaction to shake them loose and out of position,dont give them the lines on the inside positioning.Rosterwide make an effort to turn them outside no matter where you are on the ice.pay attention to how many times their players use an arm to turn you at the right moments,actually turn your body when they contact you.They are turning you to the outside,instead of hitting you head on for a tactical reason.

DO NOT get caught reaching with your sticks as that is how they are measuring you so they can manage their spheres of influence accurately,stay coiled when you extend your stick to challenge them,keep some extension room hidden from them,change your speed and footwork to adjust to this,it will throw a major wrench into what they are doing if you can catch them underestimating your stick and body reach as they close distance.

Go back to the shots you used last year and the same simple small plays,focus on the give and goes,the small reverse Stoll does from the corner of the blueline in the n-zone will work well,they are pinching that spot well so just position three feet further back when you reverse instead of right on the blueline,just be aware they will be trying to keep inside positioning and if you dont break that they will intercept your cross ice pass in the n-zone,retake the positioning edge across the board.Remember to optimise on their goalies body mechanics like you were doing last year,shoot from the other side,mix it up a little,use wristers instead of the slapper to change the pace of presentation who cares,but those same simple plays will work on the Hawks as long as you remove that shot from the middle,speed up and slow down the gamespeed to ruin their teams consistant inside positioning ,and the rest will happen on its own.

You are welcome,LA,Chicagos owner doesnt know it was the NHSs transitional innovations his team identified and utilised so he failed to thank me,I listened to him say he sourced transitional tactics from the Oilers on the radio,no thank you to the NHS?bad decision you should have done your homework and credited the right source,this means in response LA gets the help I gave their opponents last year,for the same reason of not validating the NHS ironiclly enough.

Watch the next game,LA will be making exactly these adjustments ,or they will lose, its that simple,i am not reading the future just the dynamic template I saw after watching seven or eight minutes of the last game,thats all it takes.

Its not the goaltender for LA that is a problem,its that the hawks are basing their offensive thrusts off of goaltending body mechanics their systemic influences are generating consistantly,JUST like LA did on their Cup run last year.Same principal and they are even using the same small plays LA used last year,just catalysing the slightly differently,Chicago has listened better,like LA listened better last year.

If Sutter had know what was happening last year he could easily shut down the Hawks this year,but the fact is that last year Sutter let his players catalyse things and ran with it,this means he didnt really know what the hell they were doing,just that it worked.Well the bad news is that the Hawks acessesed and followed more NHS data than the Kings did last year,and they took it seriously from a coaching standpoint,they ENDORSED the NHS,but again failed to credit the NewAge Hockey System and me,so now they will be eliminated because I will send in the data teams need to shut them down.It is really that easy.

I sent a anonymous e-mail to the feedback area of LAs website this morning,outlining some of this data,we will see if it gets through the regular hurdles,you can never be sure when you e-mail a generic address if whoever gets it has the wherewithall from their desk to forward an odd e-mail to their coaches,its a crapshoot but under trying circumastances it is surprising how many times this data gets through to the right places.

I hope Mac-T is paying attention because he is sitting on the exact system the Hawks and to a lesser degree the Kings are trying to utilise,the tactics that are effective against these teams now will have the same effect on us next year.I hope seeing this vulnerability will allow him to consider a new systemic influence that is different than what is now becoming an NHL standard.By seeing how easy it is to stop the Hawks hopefully Mac-T can see the system itself is a very open book nowadays.

The Kings won the cup last year using NHS influences initiated by players not coaches it was like limping across the finish line,the Hawks watched investigated and learned and now have adjusted from an organisational perspective to the same NewAge Hockey System data and influences the Kings learned from,except the Hawks are not limping anywhere,they sometimes drag one wing to slow things down but they are pushing hard and steady towards the finish line and their coaches are well indoctrinated into the NHS philosophys,or as well as they can be from what has been offered so far.The NHS influence has been assimilated by the Hawks on a coaching AND player level,this is a major advantage for them against LA this year.LA is recognising what is happening to them but cannot stop it,they are seeing how opponents felt playing against them last year,ha ha ha.One would think this would clue them in,eh?

Geez if LA was smart or had integrity they might try to find the Golden Goose from which they purloined last years Golden Egg and stroke it a little,and hope for another gift,ha ha haha.

I know Bickell has only scored over 10 goals once, but it was 17 goals, not 11 or 12. 9 goals this year in 48 games which equates to 15 goals, al this playing less than 13 minutes a game.

I wouldnt mind if MacT slightly overpaid for Bickell cause he is the perfect fit that they desperately need and there are not many of those guys available.

I think you could push him to 15 minutes a game and play much of that on the second line just to give the top 6 size. He also seems to give a solid effort day in and day out which is also needed on this team.

•The Oilers will hire an associate head coach. He will be an experienced NHL coach with a strong technical background. The big challenge for Ralph Krueger will be trying to find the right mixture of player's coach and disciplinarian.

I wonder what experienced NHL coach worth his salt is going to come to Edmonton to take his place behind Krueger to be the classic second fiddle? I wouldn't go anywhere near this organization and it's lengthy record of bad karma. It has bad vibes written all over it. You'd be asking how this furthers your career. If you have 'experienced' as part of your resume why come here to deal with entitled insiders/hangers-on like Buchberger and Smith? Why bring your trade secrets here to support Krueger the golden boy? I would want to run my own coaching show and make or break as head coach.

Only someone from the Oilers organization would think that the Oil are anyone's first choice of employers.

The Oil need to go outside the organization and Lowe's Christmas card list and get the best coach available with a solid NHL resume and allow him to hire his own assistants.

On the draft the Oil need to quit trying to out-think everybody as they have done in the past. Moving down in a talent rich environment is not smart. He who gets the best player wins. They should just take the best player available. They are suffering the after affects of a terminal case of the cutes and I don't think it has worked.

There are some good players available at #7. There's very good reasons the Oil are 23 yrs removed from an SC win.

Do you really think coaches bring their systems with them all the time?The Oilers havent changed their system in decades through many coaches and will not change now that things seem to be working themselves towards a rubicon of sorts.

Trade secrets?What the hell are those,what do you think we are talking about here?The Caramilk secret or the Colonels Secret Recipie??Its just hockey.right?

The Oilers arent trying to outthink anyone with the pick at all,they are just being forced to escalate the pace of the program due to early player evolutions,Gagner,and Hall and MPS and Ebbs and Nuge and Yakupov are all developing exponentially faster than we all expected and the Oilers are tooling up now,no more messing around,and this means ANYTHING can happen,we can afford to lose any one asset with the exception of Nuge at this point,this means Hall as the extreme example is available for the right package of players and draft picks.

Wait....NHS, your personally taking credit for a NHL team winning the cup last year? I've never read one of your entire posts before, I usually just check if its been cut off due to its crazy rambling length, but your particular brand of crazy is really starting to scare us.

Do you think there arent unconventional,peripheral and unrecognised influences amongst the constellation of dynamics that make up a Stanley Cup Winning Season for a team in the NHL?

What makes you undervalue yourself so much that you cannot accept your right to be in the presence of greatness such as myself.

With 25 games to go last year LA started implementing specific tactics and systemic influences posted on the Oilers site for the Oilers by me or Moma2,these are specific and sequential unconventional adjustments that created unique and original dynamic templates documenting themselves,adjustments they rode to a Stanley Cup.

How can you survive with such a negative perspective,how can you visualise or accomplish anything of significance beyond average with such a terminally low self-valuation asessment.It is like being a quitter to a winner.